Chart entered : 16 February 1980
Chart peak : 24
Number of hits : 38
Shaky is the stone in the shoe of eighties music. Whatever generalisations or theories you might come up with about the decade's pop he will be the exception to your rules. Nothing about this chubby, ageing, Elvis impersonator should have made him so successful in the decade of synths , dance and glamour. His big breakthrough came at the height of the New Romantics' chart assault. In the age of Morrissey , Fry, Cope , Gartside etc filling the pages of the NME with their eloquent theories of pop, Shaky had to be chaperoned in interviews by his manger Freya "Two Chairs " Miller, lest his dangerous combination of chippiness and child-like ignorance ( which partly explains why he was so popular with pre-teens ) get the better of him as in the disastrous , much-repeated TV encounter with a young Richard Madeley in 1980. He was nowhere to be seen at Live Aid yet ended that year at the top of the singles chart once more.
Michael Barratt was born in Cardiff in 1948 . He was the last of 11 children of a former coal miner and was younger than some of his neices and nephews. He left school at 15 and got married at 17 while working as a milkman. He started singing and playing guitar in local bands while still at school. By the mid 1960s he was fronting his own band The Denims while following local heroes The Backbeats who'd been playing rock and roll since the late fifties. In 1969 the latter group's manager Paul "Legs" Barrett ( no relation ) offered to take him on if he ditched his current band and came up with an exciting new name. "Shakin Stevens" was apparently the nickname of a childhood friend.
Barrett lost no time in merging his two acts and the Backbeats quickly morphed into Shaky's new backing band The Sunsets and turned professional. It was to be a long slog to the top for him with numerous false dawns , starting with a support slot on a Rolling Stones gig in London in December 1969 . The next time they were in London in 1970 their wild stage act caught the fancy of John Peel who financed a session with a view to them signing to his Dandelion label. The band were not very happy with the results and Peel was then gazumped by Dave Edmunds who knew most of the band and offered to record them at Rockfield and get them a deal with Parlophone.
Edmunds produced the album "A Legend" released later that year and caused some tension in the band because the drummer "Rockin' Louis" had been The Backbeats' frontman and Edmunds, an old friend, recorded some tracks with him rather than Shaky doing the lead vocal. The single was "Spirit of Woodstock" ,a song by Ernie Maresca which Barrett somehow gave himself a co-writing credit for in which the hook line strangely maintains that "The spirit of Woodstock remains in America today" which isn't too surprising as the festival had happened less than a year earlier. Musically it sounds exactly like one of Edmunds' Rockpile singles at the other end of the decade apart from Shaky's already recognisable vocal. Whatever else you think of him Shaky has always had a decent voice.
Neither the single nor the album made any impression despite some favourable reviews from those less enamoured with prog rock. It would be a repeating pattern over the next few years. Labels would sign this band with a great live reputation and then be unable to shift any units of their recorded product.
The band's association with Parlophone ended abruptly and unfairly. One of the tracks on the album "I Hear You Knocking" was re-recorded by Edmunds himself. Parlophone demurred at releasing it whereupon Edmunds took it to MAM records and enjoyed a global smash. Parlophone sued for breach of contract and, as a sideswipe, removed Shaky and his band from the roster. When the album was reissued in the eighties following Shaky's breakthrough the ex-Sunsets eventually got round to sue-ing him and Edmunds for lack of royalties though there can't have been that much to go round as it still wasn't a hit.
The band were still much in demand for support slots and soon attracted the attention of American ex-pat producer Donny Marchand who got them a contract with CBS. He recorded a quick LP of covers ( including "Sea Cruise" and "I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent" ) called "I'm No J.D" and recommended it be offered at a discounted price. CBS rejected his advice and it duly bombed. That was the end of deal number two.
Marchand then pulled out another rabbit from his hat, a chance to record another album, this time for Polydor. They recorded this one "Rockin and Shakin" plus a single, a cover of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Rock n Roller" in a single day. Not surprisingly the results were pretty rough and despite the Rock and Roll Revival of 1972 being in full swing , the band failed to take advantage of it.
They sent most of 1973 in Holland where a producer Cyril Van Der Hemel promised them they could make some money on a deal with his Pink Elephant label and in a modest fashion lived up to his word. Their fourth album "Shakin Stevens and Sunsets" was recorded over there. On the single " Honey Honey" at least they moved towards glam rock with a double tracked drum pattern straight from Gary Glitter. The records were released in the UK through the Emerald label but did nothing.
The band still played gigs in the UK where in 1973 they played at the 21st birthday bash for Kenneth Tynan's daughter at which, in one of the more mind-boggling cultural liaisons, Shaky received a sexual proposition from Irish novelist Edna O'Brien ( as featured in the chorus of Dance Stance ) . The married rocker politely declined the opportunity to become half of the seventies ' answer to Miller and Monroe. The following year he recorded a version of Ricky Nelson's "Lonesome Town" in the style of Glitter's I Love You Love Me Love which according to some sources made the Dutch Top 20.
After another unsatisfactory LP "Manhattan Melodrama" where the producer to the band's horror , overdubbed synthesizers on to the songs they changed labels to the tiny Dynamite label and released a back-to-basics album "C'mon Memphis". At more or less the same time they released a one-off single in the UK with the Mooncrest label , an acceptable version of Hank Mizell's "Jungle Rock" . It flopped then the band watched with disbelief as Mizell's original went to number 3 in the UK charts just a few weeks later in May 1976.
The eclipse of the Sunsets came a few months later. In autumn 1976 Danny Secunda and Mike Shaw of Track Records caught their act as support to another band they were checking out. Secunda invited them to a session and decided to offer a contract but to Shaky only. Mike Hurst was brought in to produce the single "Never" for release in March 1977. A Buddy Holly pastiche written by Terry Fell it had a notably softer sound than any Sunsets recording.
Three of the Sunsets quit immediately but they were replaced and the band continued to play in London in the summer of 1977 , one of their gigs attracting a keen fan by the name of John Lydon. In September he released a bland cover of Buddy Knox's "Somebody Touched Me" as his second solo single. It reached number 38 in Australia. He then received the life-changing offer to play the "middle Elvis" in Jack Good's forthcoming Elvis : The Musical which had just been given an enormous fillip by the man's passing. It was agreed that Shaky would return to The Sunsets when the show ended but that was two years later than anyone anticipated and Shaky had better offers on the table.
While Shaky rehearsed Track squeezed out the album "Shakin Stevens" before the bailiffs moved in. The single "Justine", a cover of an Adrian Lloyd song, is probably the closest Shaky's ever got to the true spirit of rock and roll , with an uncharacteristically ragged vocal and a wild Jerry Lee piano break. With Track going belly up early in 1978 Muff Winwood moved in to sign him up to Epic.
His first single for them was the atypical country rock cover of Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" in August 1978 which Shaky performs in a semi-spoken drawl. It's an odd item on his cv. 1979 saw covers of "Endless Sleep" ( notable for a lengthy instrumental break arranged by Colin Fletcher ) and "Spooky" which has a funk bass line. With Shaky unable to effectively promote them due to his theatrical commitments they failed to chart. It was around this time that I first heard of him through a small feature in one of my sister's Jackie magazines ( the same goes for another act we'll be discussing soon ).
With the musical finishing its run by the end of 1979 there was a big push on Shaky's next single . Winwood brought in Stuart Colman, a broadcaster and rock and roll enthusiast to assemble a crack band for his next recording session. Colman was the bassist in the band though the next few records still bore a Mike Hurst production credit he was doing most of the work there too.
"Hot Dog" was a cover of a very early rockabilly single by US country singer Buck Owens then trading under the name Corky Jones. It had never been a hit before. Shaky does his best Elvis impersonation on this tale of proletarian love and sex but the best bits of the record are when he's not singing and you can enjoy the guitar work of Albert Lee and pedal steel guitar specialist B J Cole on the extended instrumental break. The tip-tap rhythm keeps it nice and brisk. It didn't float my boat back then and doesn't really now but compared to what was to follow it's more than acceptable.
What an absolutely chronic attempt at reviewing an excellent rock n roll cover by Shaky, then again, you work for the government , who can't run a country properly to begin with, so I can't expect one of their own to have a clue about music!!,
ReplyDeleteI understand people like yourself find it hard to accept that Shaky was the biggest selling male solo artist of the entire decade, but thats the facts, and he is still performing now, with a top selling album Echoes Of Our Times in 2016 and the 2 leading singles from the album featured on BBC radio 2's singles of the week - Shaky spent more weeks on the UK chart in the 80`s then any other artist and his genre of music was popular with all ages, I've been present at many of his concerts to see that, so there is one example of why your review is flawed and under researched,
Really, you need to get to get your facts right because your blog reads terrible - as an accountant, I hope your better with financial matters than you are with writing about music?
And lastly, Shaky sounds nothing like Elvis on Hot Dog or any of his material actually but again, I can't quite take someone like yourself serious, when they can't even get the correct cover art right (see above) That's not the single picture sleeve, it's an album review issue from 1982,
How about doing another blog about the music you listen too?, That would be really interesting I bet!. I can comeback and ridicule your obvious supreme tastes
I thought I was reasonably complimentary about the single but to an uber-fan like yourself that's never enough. I think Shaky would probably take your comment that he sounds nothing like Elvis as an insult.
ReplyDeleteNowhere have I sought to deny that Shaky was very popular in the eighties; he just pitched at a different segment of the market. I've given him full credit for being a good live act so it's not surprising his gigs might draw people who weren't enamoured of his latter day records.
The "top selling" Echoes of Our Times reached number 22 and spent just two weeks in the chart - hardly up there with Adele and Ed Sheeran is it ?
Quote -
ReplyDelete"I thought I was reasonably complimentary about the single but to an uber-fan like yourself that's never enough".
That'll be why you said the best part was when Shaky stopped singing and Albert Lee kicked in?
Quote -
"I think Shaky would probably take your comment that he sounds nothing like Elvis as an insult".
I think there's a higher chance he'd probably punch you and walk away - he'd be perfectly justified. Read deeper on the subject, and you would quickly pick up how Shaky feels about that stigma!
Quote -
"Justine", a cover of an Adrian Lloyd song, is probably the closest Shaky's ever got to the true spirit of rock and roll"
Is that right?, well I take it you never ever saw Shaky & the Sunsets live, or heard any of their albums produced in the 70's. They performed some great authentic 50's(mainly obscure)rock n roll tracks in their live sets, were voted NME band of the year in 1972 & were particularly noted for thier wild and energetic live performances, so Apart from Shaky's raunchy vocal, Justine was tame and a poor comparison to some of the stuff that came before, and it's not even authentic rock n roll!, this is why your review is 100% half baked!,
Quote -
RE: Hot Dog - "It didn't float my boat back then and doesn't really now
And yet you still wrote a blog to basically bash it / and Shaky, which gets back to my oriignal point, we have almost come full circle here!. I don't expect everyone to have the same tastes, their are some artists / bands and genres of music I don't listen too or particularly listen care for, like "THE SMITHS" - Morrissey is deaf in one Ear though, so that may explain quite a few things!. Shaky has had 38 consecutive singles and 20 albums to date. Adele and Sheeran have had nowhere near since they appeared on the scene!
To take your points in turn
DeleteI enjoyed the instrumental break more than the vocal parts-that's a legitimate statement of personal preference.
I'm not really interested in Shaky's views on the Elvis thing- if he really wanted to avoid the comparisons he wouldn't have played him on stage or covered Blue Christmas would he ?
I don't think you get the purpose of the blog which was to cover EVERYONE who'd made a significant ( 10 or more hits ) mark on the charts at the points when they entered and left the story. I didn't write about Shaky to "bash" him but because he qualified ( in spades as you say ) and in doing so tried to understand his appeal when he left me pretty cold. It's not humanly possible for one person to listen to everything everybody from 60+ years of the chart ever recorded so no I haven't heard those earlier albums. I have actually discontinued this blog as I realised the task I'd set myself was too great.
I actually would take Shaky over Sheeran; I was just using the latter as a yardstick to illustrate that your description of the album as "Top selling" was wild exaggeration.
I don’t accept your justifications here
ReplyDeleteIf he didn’t want to be compared to Elvis he Shouldn’t of played him or covered blue Christmas!. I know what you mean, I sang Imagine last week at the local karaoke, and now everyone is comparing me to John Lennon (rolls eyes)
The musical was a celebration of the mans music, Jack Good was not looking for an Elvis impersonator, only 3 people who could put the music across. Shaky didn’t want to be involved in that capacity, which is why he originally turned the role down!,
I would of thought the answer to your question - what was Shaky’s appeal was simple. He did his particular genre of music (which was basically rock n roll) very well and there wasn’t anyone else around at the time doing that genre - in a decade of dross synth led pop and new romantic, he was bridging a gap. He also worked with top musicians and the music was produced very well, not hard to see his appeal, though as your a Smiths fan, I should cut you soon slack, as I can’t expect someone who’s a fan of the Smiths to see Shaky’s appeal at all!
There’s a few strange things in your blog, how you say he’s always been a good performer/ singer on one hand, but at the same time he left you cold?,
I think the final straw here was comparing Lonsome Town to Glitter??, Come On man. The only thing they have in common is the time signatures (what’s one of those I hear your brain ponder). Shaky might even knock you out for that as well,
In the end, there was just too many flaws in this blog - I don’t understand you frankly!!
Shaky’s now 70, still touring and has nothing to prove. I wonder if Adele or Sheeran will still have an audience to play to when they get there!
I had a similar encounter with a fan of Elkie Brooks ( another artist who largely relied on covers ) a few years back. Some people just won't accept their idols had any influences at all.
ReplyDeleteYou said Shaky didn't like to be compared to Elvis- those career choices therefore were unhelpful in that respect.
You seem to be struggling with some simple concepts. I don't enjoy motor racing but I acknowledge Lewis Hamilton is good at what he does. There's no contradiction there. You don't like The Smiths- that's absolutely fine of course - do you acknowledge Johnny Marr is a good guitarist ?
I shouldn't need to remind you that Shaky later covered a Glitter song.
OK you don't understand the blog. Have a look at the Populist Freaky Trigger blog on the UK number ones which was the main inspiration and it might become clearer. Tom Ewing writes an opinion piece and then others comment on it- that's how it works. Be warned that Shaky's chart toppers aren't rated very highly.
Of course he's still touring - most of his contemporaries are as they can't rely on record royalties any more.
We could keep going back and forward for ever - because the simple fact is, even though their your opinions, they are not fact!, using the motorsport example is, again flawed -
ReplyDelete"I don't enjoy motor racing but I acknowledge Lewis Hamilton is good at what he does"
Saying someone leaves you cold though is a pretty strong statement, which I am sure most people would take as meaning you strongly don't like what that person does/ is - so how could you then say Shaky has always been a good performer in another breath? - you need to look up the definition of what leaving someone cold actually means!,and you'll see why your 2 statements ARE complete contradictions,
You seem to be twisting and turning your answers and opinions to justify a reason for the things you wrote, which is fine, as long as you don't come up against someone who actually is a fan and has lot of knowledge of a said artist, because its easy then for me to pull your theories apart!,unless your on point!,
Another error is suggesting Shaky largely relied on covers lol - go through all 38 of his hit singles, all 12 of his UK studio albums - and compile which tracks are covers, you would not know where to start, because you don't know enough of the Mans musical output - your obvious oblivious to the fact that Shaky actually wrote a lot of his own album tracks, B Sides and Penned one of his Number 1 hits - Oh Julie. Teardrops (a top 5 UK hit) was also written by Shaky - Of course there is cover versions, but they are largely obscure tracks. There are some modern artists of today that release nothing but cover albums!,sometimes as a dabut,
Shaky later covering a Glitter song, has sod all to do with suggesting Lonsome Town Was done the same as I Love You Love Me Love - their not remotley alike. Shaky did a cover of A Little Boogie Woogie in 1987, years before any of the Glitter carry on came to light!!. Glitters version had only dented the top 40, Shaky took his verson to 12!
Shaky by the way, has a gross net worth of 15million, and at 70 years old, he really dosen't need to tour. He tours, like many others now, because he loves performing live. Guys like Elton John, Rod Stewart etc are still touring - they certainly don't need to supplement royalties, so your theories are flawed again!,
Paul McCartney is one of the Richest musical artist in the world - he still tours. Don't tell me, he does it cause he needs to suppliment lack of royalties too right?? (dear dear me!!),
I don't need to read anther blog, from frankly another ignorant blogger. I don't doubt for one minute he dosen't rate Shaky's chart toppers very high!, but then, these guys are reviewers for a reason - if they had talent, they would be out their achieving success instead of writing reviews!!
Anyway, thats my final though on this blog - I was the only one that posted a reply in the 3 years since you wrote it (shows how intersting your thoughts are),
Whatever mate. I was only just 15 when this came out and didn't want to like the same music as my mum. Hardly unusual.
ReplyDeleteMost of his hits were covers ok some of them quite obscure.
Unless I already had the records, all comments on pre and post fame singles on the blog were based on ONE listen only. I heard Lonesome Town, it reminded me of the Glitter hit, it wasn't meant as an insult.
You mention a few superstars who don't need the money of course not but a random look at Mojo's back pages reveals tours by Gary Numan, Stranglers, Shed Seven, New Model Army, Echo ad the Bunnymen, The Selecter, The Beat. They're not in that bracket.
Some of the commenters on the Populist blog ARE successful musicians e.g. Marco Pirroni and Bob Stanley.
As I said earlier this blog is discontinued so you're shooting at an empty net.
Hardly an empty net if you are responding to him
ReplyDeleteWhat I meant was he's getting all worked up about a three-year old post on a defunct blog. I know it wasn't a successful venture- c'est la vie.
ReplyDeleteBetter late than never reply - I'm a lifelong Shaky fan and appreciated your blog and found nothing insulting about it. I find overly-defensive fans like 'Lefty77' as tedious as you do. Don't let such bores get to you. Keep up the good work, even if this blog is now defunct. Kris G
ReplyDelete